Met a local 1st gen. Insight owner today (Update: they're all gone now.)

[MetroMPG]

Saw the car leaving Home Depot ahead of me. It caught my attention (aside from being a cool car) because Insights are pretty rare in Canada - fewer than 400 1st gen's were sold here, and there are no other ones in this city of 21,000 people.

Several turns later, he was still ahead of me, so I stuck behind him into a neighbourhood and parked at the curb when he pulled into his driveway.

I wonder if he thought I was stalking him... EcoStalker.com!

2000 model year, 5 speed, 150,000 kms, original battery. Dark grey.

I showed him the ForkenSwift (he said he'd thought he'd seen it on the web already).

We exchanged email addresses with the idea we'd meet up on a nicer day to take a closer look at & drive each other's cars. (I've ridden in but never driven an Insight.)

[gone-ot]

...serendipidity: one one-of-a-kind meets another one-of-a-kind!

[will88]

that sounds cool try your best to convert him we need all the ev drivers we can get

[discovery]

Originally Posted by MetroMPG

Insights are pretty rare in Canada - fewer than 700 1st gen's were sold here, and there are no other ones in this city of 21,000 people.

we'd meet up on a nicer day to take a closer look at & drive each other's cars. (I've ridden in but never driven an Insight.)

This is rare, i mean rare in a town of 21K. You should meet. If don't, come down here in the south i'll find you one to drive. It is a must 100 cars to drive. You can even spin tires with it or not, if you wish you can hypermile in it

[MetroMPG]

Talked to this Insight owner again recently... his pack since died.

I pointed him to RobertSmall's excellent thread about DIY pack refurbishing:

http://ecomodder.com/forum/showthrea...ems-13610.html

[MetroMPG]

So, since I first posted this thread...

1) I stumbled across an Insight and snapped it up for myself, and,

2) yesterday I spotted another local Insight owner - so that makes 3 of us.

I had seen him once before driving in town, but he lives in the country. And now I know where. (Funny the sights you see once the leaves start falling off the trees...)

I'll have to stop by & say hello sometime.

[MetroMPG]

Originally Posted by MetroMPG

2) yesterday I spotted another local Insight owner - so that makes 3 of us.

End of an era: all the local Gen 1 Insights are now gone from my area. I have recently seen a new Honda Fit in the driveway where the last one used to live.

I actually once met that owner at the gas station and asked him to let me know whenever he was ready to get rid of his Insight, regardless of condition -- we even exchanged contact info. Oh well.

By the way, his was the only "rusty" Insight I've ever seen. Yes, aluminum will corrode in eastern Ontario.

[redneck]

Originally Posted by MetroMPG

End of an era: all the local Gen 1 Insights are now gone from my area. I have recently seen a new Honda Fit in the driveway where the last one used to live.

I actually once met that owner at the gas station and asked him to let me know whenever he was ready to get rid of his Insight, regardless of condition -- we even exchanged contact info. Oh well.

By the way, his was the only "rusty" Insight I've ever seen. Yes, aluminum will corrode in eastern Ontario.

Fixed it for you...

By the way, his was the only "oxidized" Insight I've ever seen. Yes, aluminum will corrode in eastern Ontario.

Rust is Iron oxide.

Corroded Aluminum is Aluminum oxide.

Sorry... I just felt like nit picking...


I wonder though...

If it had Zinc anodes, like a outboard boat motor.

It may have helped to prevent corrosion of the body.






>

[J. Dub]

I like stories like these. I met a metro owner that had skirts on his rear wheels. We laughed cause I have skirts on my rear wheels too.

[MetroMPG]

I found the "last local Insight!"

It's in the boneyard behind the Honda dealer, probably traded in there.

My immediate, automatic inner dialogue when I first glimpsed it:

"I don't need a worn out Insight.... but it can't hurt to just go over there and take a look ..."

Too late!

Now it's got fat mags/tires on it, and the hybrid bits & drivetrain are ripped out. My guess is it's in the process of getting a "performance upgrade". One of the young mechanics probably picked it up for peanuts in order to stick a Civic engine/trans in it.